Conveyor for separating and aligning glass sheets

ABSTRACT

A conveyor for separating and aligning glass sheets moving along a sheet movement path includes a plurality of cylindrical rolls skewed relative to the movement path to displace the advancing sheets toward a side of the conveyor. At the side of the conveyor the sheets are aligned by an endless belt rotating through a path parallel to the sheet movement path. Each successive roll in the direction of sheet advancement has increasing peripheral surface rotational speed to separate the advancing sheets.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a conveyor for separating and aligning glasssheets as they advance along a sheet movement path.

2. Discussion of the Prior Art and Technical Problems

In the use of automatic equipment for removing glass sheets from aconveyor, the glass sheets are preferably aligned with unloadingequipment and separeted from one another. The glass sheets are alignedwith the loading equipment so that the sheets move into the samepredetermined unloading position. The glass sheets are separated toeliminate glass edge damage due to edge contact.

U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,228,543 and 1,833,965 each, in general, teach the useof skew rolls for advancing bar stock from one side of a conveyor to anopposite side of the conveyor. The bar stock drops from the conveyoronto a second conveyor and are displaced into a shearing machine.

Although the use of skew rolls as taught in the abovementioned U.S.Patents are suitable for bar stock movement, there are limitations whenpracticed on glass sheets. For example, advancing glass sheets to aslide of a conveyor and thereafter dropping them onto a second conveyorcan damage the glass sheets.

In the sheet moving art, conveyors having skew rolls and a bar mountedat one side of the conveyor are known. The sheet is moved by the rollsinto engagement with the bar to prevent the sheets from dropping fromthe conveyor.

These types of conveyors have limitations especially when used for glasssheets. For example, as the sheets engage the bar and are continuallyadvanced by the conveyor, the friction between the side of the sheetsand the bar can cause a sheet to rotate. This sheet rotation can causeedge contact between adjacent sheets resulting in edge damage.

U.S. Pat. Nos. 268,629; 1,447,649; 1,812,876 and 3,011,211 each teach,in general, the use of conveyor rolls having a constant shaft rotationalspeed and different diameters to provide each of the rolls with adifferent surface rotational or peripheral speed for accelerating ordecelerating articles, e.g., glass sheets. Although each of the patentsare suitable for their stated purposes, there is no teaching of aconveyor for separating and aligning sheets as they advance along asheet movement path.

U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,761,199; 1,848,114; 1,879,720; 2,765,065 and 3,456,026teach, in general, the use of conveyors for advancing different types ofmaterial, e.g., glass sheets, dough or boxes. Each of the conveyorsteach in one form or another accelerating the material along theconveyor by having different rotational speeds acting on each of therolls or by changing the rotational speed of the rolls.

There is no teaching in any of the above-identified patents foradvancing glass sheets along a conveyor while aligning and separatingthe glass sheets.

In packing glass sheets, it is preferred to align the sheets and pull agap between the sheets to prevent edge chipping. There are noapparatuses taught in the prior art that can perform both thesefunctions and therefore it would be advantageous to provide such aconveying system.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a conveying system for aligning sheets, e.g.,glass sheets, as they move along a sheet movement path. A plurality ofcircular conveying members are rotatably mounted in spaced relation toone another on a superstructure such that their axial centers areparallel to one another and subtend an oblique angle with a line normaland transverse to the sheet movement path. An endless belt is mountedadjacent a side of the superstructure and has a circular path parallelto the sheet movement path.

Further, this invention relates to an improved apparatus for cutting apiece of glass into glass sheets. The apparatus is of the type havingfirst facilities for conveying the glass piece past glass scoringfacilities to score the piece; second facilities for conveying thescored piece past facilities for opening the score in the scored pieceto provide glass sheets; and third facilities for conveying the glasssheets along a sheet movement path into an unloading station. Theimproved apparatus includes the third conveying facilities having afirst plurality of spaced circular conveying members rotating at thesame axial speed. The conveying members each have a different diametersuch that the conveying members each have a different peripheralrotational speed to alter the spacing between the sheets as they movealong the sheet movement path.

Still further, this invention relates to a method of altering thedistance between sheets as they move along a sheet movement path. Aplurality of spaced cylindrical rolls each having a different diameterare provided to define the sheet movement path. The center axis of eachroll is rotated at the same rotational speed while a plurality of sheetsare advanced on the rolls to alter the distance between adjacent sheetsas they move along the sheet movement path.

Also, this invention relates to a method of aligning sheets. The sheetsare advanced along a sheet movement path and displaced toward one sideof the movement path into engagement with an endless belt to align thesheets as they advance along the movement path.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a system incorporating features of theinvention for cutting a glass piece into sheets and for separating andaligning the sheets;

FIG. 2 is a side view of a conveyor used in the system shown in FIG. 1,the conveyor incorporating features of the invention for aligning andseparating the sheets.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the conveyor shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a view taken along lines 4--4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a view taken along lines 5--5 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a partial view of the conveyor shown in FIG. 3 having portionsremoved for purposes of clarity to illustrate arrangement for anglingthe conveyor rolls with respect to the sheet movement path; and

FIG. 7 is a view taken along lines 7--7 of FIG. 6.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Shown in FIG. 1 is a system 20 incorporating features of the inventionfor (1) cutting a piece of glass 22 into glass sheets 24, (2) separatingand aligning the glass sheets 24 and (3) stacking the glass sheets 24.

In general, the glass piece 22 is advanced by conveyor 26 in directionof arrow 28 past a scoring bridge 30 to impose lateral scores 32 in theglass piece. The scored glass piece moves into a corner table 34 and isadvanced in the direction of arrow 36 past a second scoring bridge 37 toimpose longitudinal scores 38 in the glass piece 22.

Conveyor 40 advances the scored glass piece 22 through a longitudinalscore opening station 42. At the score opening station 42, thelongitudinal scores 38 are opened to provide glass sections 44. Theglass sections 44 are advanced by the conveyor 40 into a lateral scoreopening station 46 to open the lateral scores 32 to provide the glasssheets 24.

Transfer device 47 transfers the glass sheets 24, e.g., three glasssheets from the lateral score opening station 46 to aligning andseparating conveyor 50 incorporating features of the invention. Theglass sheets 24 as they advance in the direction of arrow 52 areseparated and aligned in a manner to be discussed below.

The separated and aligned sheets 24 are removed from the conveyor 50 andstacked by unloading device 54.

The conveyors 26 and 40; scoring bridges 30 and 37; corner table 34;score opening stations 42 and 46; transfer device 47 and unloadingdevice 54 are presented to illustrate the environment in which theinvention may be practiced and any of the types known in the art may beused in the practice of the invention.

For example, the scoring bridges 30 and 37 may be of the type taught inU.S. Patent Application Ser. No. 725,222 filed on Sept. 22, 1976 in thename of R. P. DeTorre for "Self-Aligning Apparatus for ScoringFracturable Material". The longitudinal score opening station 42 may beof the type taught in U.S. Patent Application Ser. No. 690,337 filed onMay 26, 1976 in the name of R. P. DeTorre for "Method of and Apparatusfor Opening Score Lines in Glass Sheets". The lateral score openingstation 46 may be of the type taught in U.S. Patent Application SerialNo. 736,963 filed on Oct. 29, 1976 in the name of R. P. DeTorre for"Apparatus for Opening Lateral Scores in Moving Glass Sheets".

The teachings of the above-identified applications are herebyincorporated by reference.

Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 3, the discussion will be directed to thealigning and separating conveyor 50 incorporating features of theinvention. In the following discussion, like numerals refer to likeelements.

Conveyor section 60 of the conveyor 50 includes a plurality ofcylindrical rolls 62. The rolls 62 are identical in construction and asshown in FIG. 4, each include a cylindrical body or sleeve 64 preferablymade of a resilient material mounted on a shaft 66. Ends 68 and 70 ofthe shafts 66 are rotatably mounted in any conventional manner onlongitudinal structural members 72 and 74, respectively. The structuralmembers 72 and 74 are supported above the floor 76 by verticalstructural legs 78 (shown in FIG. 2).

With reference to FIG. 4, a pulley 80 is mounted adjacent the shaft end68 of each roll 62 and operatively connected by belt 81 to a pulley 82mounted on drive shaft 84. Shown in FIG. 2, the drive shaft 84 isrotatably mounted in bearing blocks 86 mounted on longitudinal supportmember 88 secured to the vertical legs 78. Motor 90 mounted on thesupport member 88 powers the drive shaft 84 by way of belt 92.

With reference to FIG. 3, conveyor section 94 of the conveyor 50includes cylindrical rolls 100-112. Each of the rolls 100-112 include acylindrical body or sleeve 120-132 respectively mounted on shaft 140.Preferably the cylindrical body 120-132 of the rolls 100-112,respectively, is made of a resilient material to prevent marring of theglass sheets 24.

The diameter of each successive cylindrical body 120-132 of the rolls100-112, respectively, increases in the direction of the sheet movementpath designated by the arrow 52 to accelerate the glass sheets 24 topull a gap between the glass sheets. For example, the diameter of thecylindrical body 132 of the roll 112 is greater than the diameter of thecylindrical body 131 of the roll 111 which is greater than the diameterof the cylindrical body 130 of the roll 110 etc. With this arrangementthe shaft 140 of each roll 100-112 can be rotated at the same rotationalspeed while the surface rotational speed or peripheral speed of thecylindrical body is at a different speed depending on its diameter. Forexample, for a given rotational shaft speed, increasing the diameter ofthe cylindrical body increases the surface rotational speed of thecylindrical body and vice versa.

With reference to FIG. 5, end 142 of each shaft 140 is rotatably mountedon the structural member 72 in any conventional manner. For example, theend 142 of the shaft 140 may be mounted in a rod end spherical bearing144 with threaded end 146 of the bearing 144 secured to the structuralmember 72. End 148 of the shafts 140 are similarly mounted to aslideable member 150 to be discussed in more detail below.

The bearings 144 supporting the ends 142 and 148 of the shaft 140 arepreferably adjusted such that the cylindrical body of the rolls 100-122are tangent to the horizontal plane of the sheet movement path. Theshaft 140 of the rolls 100-112 are powered by the drive shaft 84 througha pulley 82 mounted on the drive shaft 84, belt 81 and pulley 80 mountedon the end 142 of the shaft 140 of each roll 100-112.

With reference to FIG. 7, the elongated, slideable member 150 has aplurality of spaced ball guides 152 on bottom surface 154. Each of theball guides 152 rides on a plate 156 mounted on stepped down portion 158of the structural member 74.

A threaded shaft 160 has end 162 secured to a plate 164 mounted to thesupport member 150 and the other end 166 passing through arcuate slot168 formed in the plate 156.

Displacing the slideable member 150 to the left as viewed in FIG. 3skews the rolls 100-112 with respect to the sheet movement path. Inother words, the axial center of the cylindrical rolls 100-112 aretraversed to the sheet movement path and subtend an oblique angle to aline transverse and normal to the sheet movement path.

Skewing the rolls advances the glass sheets while displacing the sheetstoward a side of the conveyor, i.e., to the left as viewed in FIG. 5.The rate of side displacement of the sheets is a function of the angleof skew and the surface rotational speed of the rollers. Increasing thesurface rotational speed of the rolls while maintaining the angle ofskew constant increases the speed of side displacement of the sheet andvice versa. Increasing the angle of skew while maintaining the surfacerotational speed of the rolls constant increases the speed of the sidedisplacement and vice versa.

An endless belt conveyor 174 is mounted adjacent shaft end 70 of therolls 62 and an endless belt 176 is mounted adjacent shaft end 148 ofthe rolls 100-112. Each of the belt conveyors 174 and 176 are identicalin construction and include an idler spool 178 and a driven spool 180.

With reference to FIG. 4, the idler spool 178 is rotatably mounted onleg 182 of C channel 184. The other leg 186 of channel 184 is secured tothe longitudinal member 74 adjacent the extreme left roll 62 as viewedin FIG. 3. The driven spool 180 of the belt conveyor 174 is similarlymounted on the longitudinal member 74 adjacent the extreme right roll 62as viewed in FIG. 3.

With reference to FIG. 5, the spools 178 and 180 of the belt conveyor176 are each rotatably mounted on leg 188 of a C channel 190. The otherleg 192 of the C channel 190 is mounted on step down section 158 of thestructural member 74. The idler spool 178 of the belt conveyor 176 ismounted adjacent the idler spool 178 of the belt conveyor 174 as shownin FIGS. 2 and 3. The driven spool 180 is mounted upstream, i.e., to theleft as viewed in FIG. 3 of the roll 100.

The spools 178 and 180 of the belt conveyor 176 define the course ofendless belt 194 and the spools 178 and 180 of the belt conveyor 174define the course for the endless belt 196.

A pair of L-shaped belt guides 198 are mounted to the C channels 184 ofthe belt conveyor 174 and C channels 190 of the belt conveyor 176 tosupport the belts 194 and 196 against lateral displacement.

With specific reference to FIG. 3, the spool 180 of the belt conveyor isdriven by motor 200 in any conventional manner to preferably rotate thebelt 196 at the same rotational speed as the peripheral speed of therolls 62. The spool 180 of the belt conveyor 176 is driven by motor 202in any conventional manner.

The rotational speed of the belt 194 of the belt conveyor 176 ispreferably selected to correspond to the peripheral rotational speed ofthe center roll, e.g., the roll 106. As was discussed above, the surfacerotational speed of the rolls 100-112 varies depending on the diameterof the roll. By rotating the belt 194 at a rotational speedcorresponding to the peripheral speed of the roll 106, excessiveacceleration or deceleration of the sheets is minimized when the sheetsengage the belt 194.

With reference to FIG. 1, the sheets 24 are positioned on the rolls ofthe conveyor section 94 by the transfer device 47. As the sheets 24advance along the conveyor section 94 of the conveyor 50, they areseparated from one another and displaced toward the belt 194 of the beltconveyor 176 (see FIG. 3) to align the sheets. The sheets arecontinually separated and held in alignment as they move onto theconveyor section 60 of the conveyor 50.

The conveyor section 60 moves the sheets downstream along the sheetmovement path into an unload position. At the unload position, thesheets are removed from the conveyor 50 and stacked by the unloadingdevice 54 (see FIG. 1).

Although the invention was discussed using one endless belt conveyor176, the invention is not limited thereto. For example, the inventionmay be practiced using two or more endless belt conveyors adjacent therolls 100-112 to further increase acceleration of the sheets.

As can now be appreciated, the invention may be practiced on any type ofsheet materials, e.g., wood or plastic and on articles other thansheets, e.g., boxes.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The invention is practiced to separate and align 3 square glass sheets24 having side dimensions of about 1 foot (0.3 meter) and a thickness ofabout 0.090 inch (0.023 centimeter). The glass sheets 24 are cut in anyconventional manner from a square piece of glass 22 having sidedimensions of about 3 feet (0.9 meter).

With reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, aligning and separating conveyor 50includes a conveying section 94 having cylindrical rolls 100-112 and aconveying section 60 having a plurality of cylindrical rolls 62.

The cylindrical rolls 100-112 of the conveyor section 94 each include acylindrical rubber body 120-132 respectively mounted on a steel shaft140. As shown in FIG. 6, the shaft 140 has a length of about 38 inchesand includes a central portion 204 having a length of about 30 inchesand a diameter of about 2.375 inches. Shaft ends 142 and 148 (shown inFIG. 5) each have a length of about 4 inches and a diameter of about 1inch.

Each of the cylindrical body 120-132 of the rolls 100-112, respectively,have a length of about 30 inches. The outside diameter of thecylindrical body 120 of the roll 100 is about 3 3/16 inches and theoutside diameter of each succeeding cylindrical body is about 1/16 inchgreater than the preceding roll. For example, the cylindrical body 121of the roll 101 has an outside diameter of about 3.25 inches; thecylindrical body 123 of the roll 103 has an outside diameter of about 35/16 inches; the cylindrical body 124 of the roll 104 has an outsidediameter of about 33/4 inches and so on with the cylindrical body 132 ofthe roll 112 having an outside diameter of about 3 15/16 inches.

With continued reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, the conveyor section 60includes a plurality of cylindrical rolls 62 each having a rubbercylindrical body 28 having a length of about 30 inches and an outsidediameter of about 4 inches mounted on a steel shaft 66 (see FIG. 4). Theshaft 66 is similar in dimensions to the shaft 140 of the cylindricalrolls 100-112.

With reference to FIGS. 3-5, ends 68 of the shafts 66 of rolls 62 andends 142 of the shafts 140 of the rolls 100-112 are rotatably mounted ina rod end spherical bearing 144 of the type sold by Heim Universal Corp.Cat. No. HMX10G. The rod end spherical bearings 144 are mounted onstructural member 72 with the rolls 62 and 100-112 on a center to centerspacing of about 6 inches.

The end 70 of the shafts 66 of the rolls 62 are mounted in a similarmanner to opposite structural member 74.

The end 148 of the shaft 140 of the rolls 100-112 are each rotatablymounted in rod end spherical bearings 144 mounted on slideable steelmember 150 on a center to center spacing of about 6 inches.

With reference to FIG. 7, the slideable member 150 has a length of about100 inches and has 3 ball guides 152 on a center to center spacing ofabout 50 inches mounted on bottom surface 154 of the slideable member150. The ball guides ride on a steel plate 156 mounted on step downportion 158 of the structural member 74. The plates 156 are each about12 inches in length, 6 inches in width and 1/4 inch thick.

A threaded shaft 160 has one end 162 secured to steel plate 164 mountedon bottom surface 154 of the slideable member adjacent to a ball guide152 as shown in FIG. 7. The other end 166 of the threaded shaft 160passes through an arcuate slot 168 formed in the end plate 156. Theplate 168 has a radius of about 2.75 feet.

The structural members 72, 74 and slideable member 150 are sized and therod end spherical bearing 144 adjusted such that the cylindrical bodies120-132 of the rolls 100-112, respectively, and cylindrical bodies 64 ofthe rolls 62 are tangent to horizontal plane of the sheet movement path.

The slideable member 150 is moved to the left as viewed in FIG. 3 tomove the shaft end 148 of each roll 100-112 upstream of the sheetmovement path to angle the rolls 120. In other words, the anglesubtended by the center of the shaft 140 of the rolls 100-112 and a linenormal and transverse to the article movement path is 12°. The slideablemember 150 is secured in position by nuts 206 mounted on end of thethreaded shaft 160 as shown in FIG. 7.

A pulley 80 is mounted adjacent shaft end 142 of each roll 100-112 andshaft end 68 of each roll 62. Each pulley 80 is connected to a pulley 82mounted on drive shaft 84 by a belt 81. The drive shaft 84 is rotatablymounted in bearing blocks 86 mounted to support member 88.

A motor 90 is advantageously mounted on the support member 88 and powersthe drive shaft 84 in any conventional manner.

An endless belt conveyor 174 is mounted adjacent shaft end 70 of therolls 60 and an endless belt conveyor 176 is mounted adjacent shaft end148 of the rolls 100-112 as shown in FIG. 3. Each of the belt conveyors174 and 176 are identical in construction and include an idler spool 178and powered spool 180.

With reference to FIG. 4, the spools of the belt conveyor 174 arerotatably mounted on leg 182 of a steel C channel 184. The other leg 186of the channel is secured to the structural member 74 (shown for spool178 in FIG. 4). The spools 178 and 180 of the belt conveyor 174 are on acenter to center spacing of about 3 feet.

With reference to FIG. 5, the spools 178 and 180 of the belt conveyor176 are similarly mounted on steel C channels 190 having end 192 securedto step down section 158 of the structural member 74. The spools 178 and180 of the belt conveyor 176 are on a center to center spacing of about7 feet.

A pair of L-shaped guideways 198 each have one end secured to thesurface 182 of the channel 184 of the belt conveyor 174. Similarly apair of guideways 198 are mounted between the spools 178 and 180 of thebelt conveyor 176.

And endless belt 194 having a width of about 11/2 inches (3.80centimeters) is mounted on the spools 178, 180 and guideway 198 of thebelt conveyor 176. Similarly an endless belt 196 about 11/2 inches wideis mounted on the spools 178, 180 and guideways 198 of the belt conveyor174.

The spools 178 and 180 and respective C channels 184 and 190 are sizedsuch that the belt is about 1 inch below and above the adjacent rolls 62and 100-112.

A motor 200 powers the spool 180 of the belt conveyor 174 in anyconventional manner to rotate the belt 196 at a rotational speed ofabout 60 feet/minute. A motor 202 powers the spool 180 of the beltconveyor 176 in any conventional manner to rotate the belt 194 at arotational speed of about 52.5 feet/minute.

With reference to FIG. 2, the motor 90 rotates the shafts 140 of therolls 100-112 and shafts 66 of the rolls 60 at about 57 revolutions perminute (RPM's). The peripheral rotational speed of the rolls 62 is about720 inches/minute. The peripheral rotational speed of roll 100 is about709 inches/minute and each successive roll along the sheet movement pathhas an incremental increase of about 11.25 inches/minute.

Referring now to FIG. 1, the piece of glass 22 is advanced by conveyor26 through a scoring station 30 to impose 2 lateral scores 32 spacedabout 1 foot apart in the glass piece 22. The scored glass piece 22moves into corner table 34 and thereafter advanced in the direction ofthe arrow 36 through a scoring station 37 to impose 2 longitudinalscores 38 spaced about 1 foot apart.

Conveyor 40 advances the scored sheet 22 through a longitudinal scoreopening station 42 to open the longitudinal scores 38 and thereafterthrough a lateral score opening station 46 to open the lateral scores 32to provide 9 glass sheets 24.

Groups of 3 sheets 24 are removed from the lateral score opening station46 and positioned on the conveyor section 94 of the separating andaligning conveyor 50 by pick up device 47. As the sheets 24 advancealong the conveyor section 94, the sheets are separated and displacedtoward the belt conveyor 176. As the sheets 24 move into engagement withthe belt 194 of the belt conveyor 176, the sheets are aligned.

The sheets 24 are thereafter moved into the conveyor section 60 whichmaintains the alignment of the sheets by the belt conveyor 174. Sincethe peripheral speed of each roll 62 is equal the spaced distancebetween the sheets is maintained.

As individual sheets move into the downstream end of the conveyorsection 60, they are removed by unloading device 54.

As can now be appreciated, the above example is presented to illustratethe invention and the invention is not limited thereto.

What is claimed is:
 1. A conveying system for separating and aligningsheets as they move along a sheet movement path, comprising:asuperstructure; a plurality of cylindrical conveying members havingsuccessive increasing diameter in the direction of sheet advance toinsure increasing spaced distance between edges of adjacent sheets asthe sheets advance along the sheet movement path; means for rotatablymounting said conveying members in spaced relation to one another onsaid superstructure with their axial centers parallel to one another andat an oblique angle to the sheet movement path, said rotatably mountingmeans including means for changing the oblique angle; means for rotatingsaid plurality of conveying members at the same axial rotational speed;endless belt; means for mounting said endless belt adjacent a side ofsaid superstructure with major surface of said belt normal and parallelto the sheet movement path; and means for rotating said endless belt. 2.The conveying system as set forth in claim 1 wherein said means formounting said endless belt includes:a pair of spaced rotatably mountedguides; said endless belt mounted on said pair of guides; a rigid platemounted between said pair of guides to prevent bowing of said belt whenengaged by the sheets to be aligned.
 3. The conveying system as setforth in claim 1 wherein said means for rotating said conveying membersincludes:a drive shaft; and an endless flexible belt connectingindividual ones of said conveying members to said drive shaft.